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Just ONE page on
the Collecting Books and Magazines web site based in Australia.
MARIE MUIR was born in and attended
school in England. At the time of writing these books in
the 1960s, she lived in Scotland on a bay in the Firth of
Forth. According to the jacket blurb on a 'Kettle' book,
she had written short stories and romances, but
"enjoyed writing for children because they share her
love for adventure, animals and the open air."
THANKS to Jim
Mackenzie, Jane Webster and Craig Statham for additional
information.
We
would greatly appreciate further biographical information
on Marie Muir.
Further details not yet incorporated follow.
I am the Local History
Officer for East Lothian and have some information that
you may find useful. .... / I believe Marie Muir had two
pseudonyms. As well as Monica Blake she also wrote as
Barbara Kaye. This I got from her obituary (incidentally
written by no less than Nigel Tranter). .../ Marie Muir
also helped create the only index (so far) for the
gravestone monuments in Aberlady Churchyard. / The bay in
which she lived was Aberlady Bay.
[Later ...] Born in
Yorkshire. Came to Scotland and married Thomas Muir, a
novelist. After his death she moved to Edinburgh then
East Lothian. She was, for many years, secretary of the
Scottish Centre of International PEN (Poets, Essayists
and Novelists). / I have heard that she also had a
further pseudonym - Jean Scott, but I have not been able
to confirm this.
Kind regards
Craig Statham
Books in Order of Publishing
(as per British Library)
Laird of Castle Croy, Amalgamated Press: London,
1949.
Dear Mrs. Boswell, Macmillan & Co.: London, 1953.
Leezie Lindsay, Macmillan & Co.: London, 1955.
Children's Press |
First Edition |
First Edition |
First Edition |
First edition |
Children's Press edition |
First edition |
The Browns of
Bencraig ... Illustrated by Douglas Relf. Harrap &
Co.: London, 1967. (One of the `Flying Foals' Books)
Princess of Mexico, Dent Lon 1968 (The one Jane refers to
?)
Captive of the Sun, Hale Lon 1972 (Or perhaps this one ?)
The Mermaid Queen 1978 – based on the life of Mary
Stuart
The Cup of Froth 1980
Written as
Monica Blake
Is this her pseudonym for her adult romances
?
Hidden Heritage 1968
Pelham's Folly 1977
The Dark Horseman 1977
Austrian Romance 1978
Pool of Love 1978
Venetian Dream 1979
Come in from the Dark. 1982
REVIEWS
Torridons' Triumph, first published 1960,
reprinted as a 'Seagull' edition in 1967.
Torquil, Jan and Ivor Torridon have the responsibility of
running the family boat yard business in Kilmodan,
Scotland, while their father is sick in hospital. There
great love is 'Cormorant', a fine yacht which they hope
to use to save the business, hiring it out to rich
tourists. Torquil, the oldest lad, will crew the yacht
while Jan will run the house. Ivor, the youngest, is left
to teach possible young arrivals how to sail in a small
dinghy. Two rich American girls arrive, Lucilla, tall,
slim, pretty and hungry for male company, and Ruth, lame
and introspective. But appearances can be deceptive. And
so begins a wonderful story which features characters so
real you expect them to step out of the book. The
Scottish locale which the author obviously knows so well
doesn't intrude. Instead it and the many characters you
meet dovetail together into an easy to read, interesting
and thought-provoking tale. There is humour, pathos and
everything you could possibly want in a children's book.
Highly recommended. # j 4.01
Torridons' Surprise, first published 1961
Jan is sent off to a family in Vienna to further her
worldliness and is befriended on the plane by an spoilt
American boy. Much to her surprise she begins to enjoy
her time with the Remmer family but the lad reappears,
causing no end of trouble. Fortunately, Ruth, now living
in Paris, arrives to spend time with Jan. They all
befriend the lad's mother and he is eventually, much to
Jan's horror, sent back with her to Kilmodan, in order to
straighten him out. Who is the mysterious movie
scriptwriter back in Scotland? The second book in the
series, and just as good as the first, with 'a clash of
personalities' beautifully orchestrated by this excellent
author. Another top recommendation. # j 12.03
Torridons in Trouble, first published 1963
Jan finds herself in Venice, a proposed sailing trip
around the Greek Islands having come to naught. Before
long she's on her way back to Scotland in the 'care' of a
recuperating American woman. It soon seems that her world
is going to come crashing down around her, owing to a
scheming developer, the woman she's befriended and the
latter's son. Even Commmander Torridon's life seems about
to change! I've keep this brief as to expand this
piece into a proper review would spoil the story for
those who've not read this relatively hard to locate
book, the final (sob!) in the 'Torridon' series. For
those who've come to identify with Jan, this book will
take you inside her as no other juvenile book has ever
done with a character, in my experience. So much happens
in this story that one almost requires a chart to follows
the actions of the many characters. A top recommendation.
# j 8.02
Pam,Pot and Kettle (Collins Seagull Library)
"Savige Dog Keep Oot"
These are the words that greet ten year old Pam when she
arrives at her Aunt Morag's house near the village of
Ardshiel in the Highlands of Scotland. It's just the
first of the threats that Pam meets during the course of
this engaging little story. From the moment she wakes up
to find that her holiday in Austria has been cancelled
everything seems to go wrong for the little girl. Her
father, a lawyer, has to look after an important client
in a crucial case and her mother won't let her travel
anywhere by herself. Only a letter from her eccentric
relation in Scotland promises some adventure to snatch
her away from the boredom of summer holidays in London.
But Aunt Morag is ill
and the last letter she wrote is full of mystery. Pam and
her mother head north to offer help. Somehow Pam ends up
alone in the lonely cottage with a wild dog penned up in
a little shack and an even wilder little boy with red
hair and a dirty face who claims his name is Kettle and
that Aunt Morag's cottage is his "hoose".
How the two children
get to know each other and how Pam makes friends with
Pot, "the savige dog" is followed by a
description of their attempts to look after themselves
and the host of stray and injured animals that Morag
dedicates her life to saving. You might be forgiven at
this point for imagining that this is going to become a
book of pretty straightforward sweetness and light. You
would be wrong. The dark side of life and of people's
personalities is about to be unleashed. Brooding in the
background is the reaction of the village children to
fact that Kettle is an outsider and a tinker or gypsy.
Even worse is the prospect of Kettle's uncle, a man
renowned for his drunkenness and brutality. When
Kirsty-from- the-village breaks her leg and the last
responsible adult disappears from their lives, Pam, Pot
and Kettle find themselves in real danger. Throw in the
risk of arson and the last ride of an old banger and you
have the ingredients for a story that would be both
interesting and frightening for the 9 to 11 year olds
that Marie Muir had presumably chosen to be her target
audience.
Written over 40 years
ago, this book remains timeless in its treatment of
themes of loneliness, identity, courage and belonging.
The sequel is already clearly in the mind of the author
as she brings this interesting little story to an end. # jmackenzie48@yahoo.com 5.01
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